Sea Monkey
by Rose DiVerona
Summary: Vanessa holds her new baby in her arms and reflects upon her plunge into motherhood. Rated T for one bad word quoted from the film.


A/N: I love the movie Juno, and I would really like to write a decent fanfic around the character, but, alas, I'm not sure I have enough sarcasm in me to accomplish her persona. So I'm left with a short Vanessa-as-a-mother thing. My first dive into this particular "world." FYI, 'Stalley' is Vanessa's maiden name, which she now goes by. And the title of this fanfic has nothing to do with it in a direct way, but I really love that quote in the movie...and, well, this _is _about the baby.

Disclaimer: Don't. Own. Juno.

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**Sea Monkey**

Joseph Alexander Stalley. A fairly conventional name.

Vanessa guessed Juno probably wouldn't approve. But then...not everyone could be named after a Roman goddess. And as far as names went, Vanessa considered Joseph a fairly good one. It was her own father's, after all. And this baby, conceived by parents christened Juno McGuff and Paulie Bleaker, almost _had_ to have a normal name. There was a sense of beautiful contrast in the situation.

Vanessa sighed as she gazed fondly down at the sleeping baby in her lap. Her son was a quiet infant, sleeping more than he cried. Vanessa supposed she should be grateful for this, but the silence gave her unwanted room for thought. The truth was that Vanessa had jumped into this baby thing with more vigor than appropriate. Because she wanted a baby so much, she had never stopped to deal with logistics – namely, what it would be like as a single mom.

But this wasn't her fault. Why_ should_ she consider life as a single mother when she had a (so she thought) secure marriage and a utopian, upper-class life? Throughout all the years of trying, Mark had never admitted he didn't necessarily want children. Until the facts had come out – until it became obvious they would shortly be parents – he was right beside her all the way. His enthusiasm may have been somewhat disappointingly lacking, but Vanessa had attributed this to nerves. Most men were apprehensive about fatherhood; they weren't gifted with natural maternal instincts. Who could have guessed Vanessa would be left alone just as she became a mother - just as the dream of her life came true?

Juno thought she was ready. This alone was the comfort Vanessa found in her moments of doubt. Juno had known she was handing her baby along to a single woman. She hadn't turned back from their plan. And Vanessa hadn't, either.

She _was _ready. Since she'd been a little girl, Vanessa had taken great pleasure in caring tenderly for her dolls and stuffed animals as if they were real babies and she was their mother. She loved babysitting as a teenager, and envied all her friends for starting families early. More than she wanted a husband...she wanted a little one for her own. Mark had been a "side trip" - it sounded awful, but now it was all too blatantly true. He was someone by which she could have a baby, but the idea was much better than the reality. Because all it brought was disaster in the end. He wanted freedom; she wanted an infant. And now that she had one...she wasn't sorry.

All those classes, the books, the videos, the long conversations with successful parents...it all helped, of course, but really - it was looking at your baby for the first time, loving it in that instant...when it all fit together, like a puzzle that had been missing the final piece, but was now complete. Nothing Vanessa had researched had been able to describe the sensation in so many words. It was just one of those things mothers had to experience for themselves. As she had.

Baby Joey shifted in his mother's arms and Vanessa watched him carefully to see if he would wake. He yawned and resumed his snoozing stillness.

A mother. She was a mother. Whether from her womb or not, this was _her son_. Hers to nurture and care for, to hug and kiss, and raise as her own. Vanessa didn't know what the future would hold, if she would ever remarry, if she'd have more children…but for now, she was content where she was.

What was it Juno's stepmother said in the hospital nursery?

That Vanessa looked "scared shitless?"

Vanessa smiled. That sounded about right. Terrified…but triumphant.

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A/N: Review?


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